This weeks 'Trainee' in Focus looks at Colette Njoteh, a current Film and TV Trainee and aspiring Director. We had a chat with her to find out more about her world!

What do you do?

I am an aspiring Director and Film and TV Trainee at ELAM. At the moment I am working on Music Videos for some Music Trainees, which has been really enjoyable. I am constantly drawing random things such as buildings, which gives me a lot of inspiration for Film Concepts. I also recently went to the BBC to check out their facilities. I wrote an article on my experience. It gave me a great insight into how I can help them in the future.

Why did you start Film and TV?

My passion for Film and TV started whilst taking pictures for my Art GCSE coursework. I loved how intimate and interesting these pictures where. They sparked a real interest in Film for me.

Also, my dad would take me to the cinema every weekend when I was younger. I always enjoyed these films and had a desire to make films that were similar. I now really enjoy portraying my visions through Film.

What are your aspirations?

I want to be a Successful Director. By that I mean I want to make films that make people laugh and make people happy. I want to give the audience a similar feeling that I had when my Dad took me the cinema. Hearing everyone laugh together is something I wish to recreate with my Films.

I would also love to work on a Disney Film in the future as I absolutely love them!!

It’s already possible to be in two places at once in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as Benedict Cumberbatch proved during several out-of-body experiences in last year’s Doctor Strange. So the New York Post story that the Sherlock star has been replaced by a body double for the shooting of scenes as the sorcerer supreme in the forthcoming MCU instalment Avengers: Infinity War Part One should come as no shock. Moreover, with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story having shown you don’t even need to be alive to star in a new movie, we should hardly be surprised that an actor no longer has to be on set to get involved in a shoot.

Disney has denied that Cumberbatch’s performance will be superimposed over that of Broadway thesp Aaron Lazar, just as the late Peter Cushing’s features blanketed those of Holby City actor Guy Henry for Grand Moff Tarkin’s return in Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One. But the Post’s story reveals the brave new and rather scary world of ghosted performances that we now live in.

Cushing’s posthumous appearance in Rogue One was inspired by a determination to bring back as many fan favourites as possible from the original Star Wars – and perhaps, if we’re being cynical, the knowledge that morbid curiosity would help boost the box office receipts. It is hard to imagine that studios, particularly those struggling with the scheduling conflicts that always come into play when working with busy A-list talent such as Cumberbatch, won’t consider taking a similar route with still-living talent in the future.

The number of female directors working in Hollywood has fallen, according to a new study.

In 2016, just 7% of the top 250 films were directed by women, a fall of 2% from the year before. The annual report from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film found that the number was also behind the figure achieved in 1998.

Here at ELAM we are fully committed to reversing this trend and actively encourage women to get involved in the film industry and starting their journey to become directors by joining our new Film and Television Production course.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has come under criticism after announcing their 2017 nominations which revealed that there was no recognition for BAME actors in leading roles or directors.

"The issue was thrown into sharp relief by the fact that the Bafta nominations arrived the day after the Golden Globes, where Moonlight won best film (drama) and Jenkins, Washington and interracial romance Loving star Ruth Negga were all nominated in major categories. However, Moonlight’s Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris, and Fences’ Viola Davis were nominated in Bafta’s supporting actor slots, as well as Lion’s Dev Patel."

Lack of BAME representation in the film industry and particularly in the British film industry is something that we are committed to improving at ELAM, which is one of the reasons why we are launching our new Film and Television Production course from our brand new building in Bromley by Bow next year.